1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus, an ultrasonic probe, and an ultrasonic imaging assisting method for use in, for example, medical care.
2. Description of the Related Art
An ultrasonic imaging diagnosis apparatus displays a tomographic image of tissue through a non-invasive examination method using ultrasound. The ultrasonic imaging diagnosis apparatus is quite useful at clinics in that, for example, beat pulsation of the heart or motions of a fetus can be displayed in real time through a manipulation as simple as placing an ultrasonic probe to the body surface. Also, because no X-rays or the like are used, a screening can be performed repetitively without concern for exposure. Further, it can be moved to a bedside for a screening to be conducted owing to its small system size in comparison with other diagnosis equipment for X-ray imaging, CT imaging, MRI, etc., and a further down-sized ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus has been under development.
Incidentally, the use of medical equipment is limited to specialized physicians or technicians due to a high skill and expert knowledge needed for manipulations. However, technical advancement in recent years has been improving medical equipment to the extent that it can be manipulated by non-specialized or less experienced physicians or technicians. In particular, because of the foregoing characteristics, the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus is thought to be manipulated by a patient for himself in remote medical care, home medical care, etc. in the near feature.
However, in order to pick up a more suitable diagnosis image with a conventional ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus, the ability to read an ultrasonic image, the ability to see an ultrasonic image anatomically, etc. are required. This not only makes it difficult for non-specialized or less experienced physicians or technicians or a patient to manipulate the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus, but also makes it almost impossible to pick up a suitable diagnosis image.